


Warm Things

by The_Sickfic_Sideblog



Series: Halloween Week 2017 [5]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Hot Chocolate, Platonic Bonding, Pre-Season/Series 04, Sickfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-25
Updated: 2017-10-25
Packaged: 2019-01-22 21:35:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12491356
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Sickfic_Sideblog/pseuds/The_Sickfic_Sideblog
Summary: Keith has a cold, so Pidge warms him up.





	Warm Things

“So you’ve never owned a scarf?”

“I have my little neck scarf-”

“No. Like a real scarf. For winter.”

“The Garrison is in the desert, I’ve never needed them.”

“Seems like you need one now.”

Keith huffed and crossed his arms, trying to ignore the fact that he couldn’t breathe out of his nose.

The paladins hadn’t exactly been quarantined and disinfected before Blue blasted them off into space. With three of them in contact with the entire Garrison and one of them exposed to new species and all the diseases they came with, it was impressive how long it took for the humans to catch a simple head cold. As soon as the first symptoms popped up, everyone was sprayed down with Altean disinfectant. But as the paladins learned in their biology classes, the common cold was notoriously hard to get rid of.

In the end, Team Voltron narrowed it down to Pidge being the one who brought it on board. Not because she had it herself, but the last time any of them remembered someone getting sick was in her robotics class - her partner for the project had it pretty bad.

The guilt Pidge had was what drove her to confront the victim of this strain of cold virus. Unfortunately, this victim was the most stubborn of them all. She found him outside the training deck.

“I don’t need a scarf. We’re in space.” Keith grumbled. He was in a particularly bad mood, ever since Shiro forbade him from training for at the very least a day so he wouldn’t spread it to the others. “Besides, scarves don’t  _actually_  help. They just get all gross.”

“Maybe not physically, but mentally they work pretty damn well. Here.” Pidge offered him her own scarf that she’d picked up on one of the more touristy planets. “It seemed to jump over me, you can be gross on this all you want.”

“No.”

“C’mon, fussypants. You can be gross on this instead of your precious gloves.”

That was a pretty convincing argument. Keith scowled and took the scarf, only just barely draping it around his neck. “I look ridiculous.”

“You look cozy,” Pidge smiled, “At least put it on right.” She tucked the scarf around his neck properly, satisfied that he looked a little less agitated.

“It’s....yeah okay it’s  _kind of_  cozy. And maybe it’s  _kind of_  helping me feel a  _little_  better...”

Keith stopped his rant and seemed to stare into the void. Before Pidge could ask which dimension he was looking into, his breath hitched, and he sneezed the squeakiest little kitten sneeze Pidge had ever heard. Her eyes went wide as he repeated the action twice more.

Her mischievous grin was met with a glare that could destroy a galran flagship.

“If you dare...tell  _anyone_...about my sneezes...”

“I won’t.”

“Fucking right you won’t-”

“If you actually relent and do as I say to help you get rid of this cold.”

They stared each other down for a moment, daring the other to act first, when Pidge pulled up her coms and hit the talk button.

“Hey everyone, Keith-”

“ _Pidge_!”

“-he’s got this cold, and you won’t  _believe_ -”

“ _FINE FINE!_ ”

Pidge snickered and put down her coms. “Good. Now follow me. You’re gonna need more than just a scarf.” She didn’t think she should tell him that she had to connect her comes to someone before anyone could hear anything.

Keith was lead to a much more secluded corner of the castle, where the lights weren’t blinding and the sounds were much more muffled. “Where are you taking me? What is this place?”

“It’s just the quietest and most secluded part of the castle. Without going in the air vents, of course,” Pidge replied, “I come here when I get migraines.”

“...I guess it is rather peaceful back here.”

The left hand of Voltron situated her fellow arm into a soft bean bag chair she’d stashed there for the heavier migraines. Once she was sure that Keith wouldn’t dash out on her, she left him to get more supplies to help his cold.

Keith simmered while he waited, wondering why Pidge was making such a big deal out of this. It was just a cold, not even some crazy galra virus. She was a huge worrier, just like her brother.

_Matt_. Keith’s face softened a bit. They still hadn’t found Matt. It was truly a miracle that Shiro was able to touch down on Earth after being captured, how much more luck would it take to locate one human in the entire galaxy? The entire  _universe_? And then find another, her father.

_No wonder she’s worried. She can’t lose anyone else._

Pidge returned, happy to see Keith still in the beanbag chair, even  _relaxing_  a little bit. Maybe he really was sick.

“This is what Matt and I used to do. He’d always get sick in the fall, and he liked these things, so I figured you might too. Here.” She held out a soft bit of fabric, and Keith’s scowl returned.

“A beanie. You want me to put on a beanie.”

“It might actually help your mess of hair anyway.”

_Oh_ , she was good. Keith sighed and put it on, finding that the hat pulled perfectly over his ears, and the ever so slight weight on his head felt comforting. Maybe this wasn’t so bad. He looked to her next two objects, heart softening.

“How did you make hot chocolate?”

Pidge sat down cross-legged in front of him, offering a mug. “It’s not exactly hot chocolate, it’s the best I could do with all the Altean stuff, but Hunk said it was pretty close. And those are supposed to be marshmallows.”

The little white fluffy bits in Keith’s mug suddenly scared him. “ _Supposed_  to be?”

“Coran called them marshmallows, and they taste pretty close. But I can’t help but be skeptical.”

The two fell quiet as they sipped. For an alien equivalent, the hot chocolate wasn’t too bad at all. Keith found himself melting into the chair, muscles relaxing and brow unfurrowing.

“Your brother has good taste.”

Pidge watched her marshmallows intently. “Had.”

With a defiant sniff, Keith gripped Pidge’s shoulder firmly. “ _Has_. We’ll find him, and I’ll return this beanie myself. Until then, you’ve got four substitute older brothers watching around the clock and filling in. I’m still on duty, I have a job to do, I get to be sick Matt for the day.”

The smaller paladin cracked a smile, and Keith mirrored it well. “You guys aren’t replacements, you know that, right? Or substitutes? You’re a different part of my family. You’re still my brother, just as Keith.”

“That’s probably a good thing. I’m not as smart as him.”

The two laughed a bit and took more sips of hot chocolate. Keith could feel his sinuses starting to warm up from the drink, opening up and feeling less pressurized.  _Maybe I should invest in warm things more often._


End file.
